Police in Columbia County seek to identify man who wanted to photograph fire apparatus

HUDSON >> The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office and state police at Livingston are seeking help in identifying a man who has made repeated attempts to gain access to fire stations and rescue squad buildings by stating that he wants to photograph fire apparatus, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

A Facebook posting on the incidents that was shared by members of the Ulster Hose Co. No. 5, the Woodstock Fire Department and the Roosevelt Fire Department in Hyde Park was not posted by the Sheriff’s Office, according to Lt. Wayne Lopez.

Lopez said information in the post, which he speculated may have been posted unofficially by a member of his department on the “Capital District Fire Buffs” Facebook page, was accurate.

Although the subject of the post has not broken any laws, Lopez said the man’s actions were unusual and the incidents are under investigation by his office and state police at Livingston. “Nothing was done illegal yet,” Lopez said, adding that the subject’s “odd hours” raised suspicions.

The post states that an individual, “described as a white male, approximately 6 feet tall, thin build, dark disheveled hair, with an unshaven appearance,” went to Livingston Fire Station No. 1 on U.S. Route 9 on Nov. 1 and was denied access. Then, according to the Facebook post, on Nov. 3 between 2 and 3 a.m. “the same described subject and vehicle were observed in the parking lot of the Greenport Rescue Squad building on Newman Road in the town of Greenport.” At that time, according to the Facebook post, the man was seen photographing the exterior of the building and left before members could approach him. Later the same day, he apparently returned, asked permission to take photos and was denied access.

During one incident, according to the post, the subject wore a Plattekill Fire Department shirt. An investigating sheriff’s deputy contacted a fire officer from Plattekill and was told the description does not fit any current or past members.

The man being sought for questioning is apparently driving a black Ford conversion van with a missing passenger side rear window that is covered with mesh screen and plastic. “The paint on the vehicle is described as extremely faded to the point where white primer is showing through in several areas,” the post states.

Anyone with information about these or similar incidents is asked to contact Deputy Sheriff Eli Fieser at the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office at (518) 828-3344.

About the Author

Diane Pineiro-Zucker has been a reporter at the Daily Freeman since April 2013.
Pineiro-Zucker worked as a reporter in the Freeman’s Rhinebeck bureau in the early 1980s, left to become executive editor at Taconic Newspapers in Dutchess County, and returned to the Freeman in 2010 as a copy editor. Reach the author at dpzucker@freemanonline.com
or follow Diane on Twitter: @DianeAtFreeman.